Wine awards that deliver commercial benefits

Entries for the 2014 New
World Wine Awards open on 12 May and top winemakers are
encouraging their peers to enter. In addition to the
distinction of an award that recognises quality on the same
international scale as all other wine competitions, winning
winemakers are guaranteed national distribution in New World
supermarkets and extensive brand exposure, driving sustained
sales.

Simon Swa from Peregrine Wines, which won two
gold medals last year for their Saddleback range, says the
promotion of New World Wine Awards award-winning wines is a
key point of difference from other wine shows.

“There is a well-planned program of in-store
promotions, online publicity and printed media that is
triggered by a medal win so the commercial benefits are
immediate and meaningful. Without doubt, we have enjoyed a
notable increase in sales and a heightened level of brand
awareness,” said Swa.

Last year 364,000 bottles
of the Top 50 wines, with a retail value of $4.7m, were sold
throughout New World supermarkets in the first six weeks of
the results being announced; the Champion White Wine, Spy
Valley’s Marlborough Chardonnay 2012, sold out in a week.
That volume of sales in the first six weeks was over 21%
higher than in the corresponding period in the previous
year, reflecting increasing awareness among consumers of the
integrity of these wine awards.

Julie Ibbotson from
Saint Clair Family Estate says that alongside a range of
other positive reviews and medal results from wine shows all
over the world, Saint Clair values the opportunity to
showcase their wines at the New World Wine Awards each
year.

“The New World Wine Awards has become
another credible fixture in the annual New Zealand wine show
calendar. Wine show judging credibility is essential and at
the New World Wine Awards this has always been of a
consistently high calibre,” she said.

The New
World Wine Awards is also the only wine show in New Zealand
that has a low alcohol category, providing an opportunity
for wineries that are at the forefront of responding to
consumer demand for high quality reduced or low alcohol
wines to benchmark their wines. In addition, the closing
date for entries has been extended, which enables more new
vintage wines to be entered.

The New World Wine
Awards is judged by an independent panel of 13 expert wine
judges who blind-taste each wine over the course of two
days, using the same internationally recognised 20-point
system as other leading wine competitions to ensure the
winning wines are the best examples of their type. The only
difference is that all wines entered must retail for below
$25 a bottle and there must be at least 6,000 bottles of
each wine available for sale, responding to consumer demand
for high quality but affordable and widely available
wines.

This year the judging panel will include Sam
Harrop as the guest international judge. Voted the ‘10th
most influential wine consultant in the world’ by Drinks
Business in 2013, he is also one of only 312 wine experts
globally to hold the prestigious Masters of Wine
qualification.

The judges will award Gold, Silver
and Bronze medals, and a Champion Red, White and Bubbles
overall. In addition to the distinction of an award, the top
50 wines will be showcased in 137 New World stores
nationwide, online and in the New World Wine Awards
booklet.

Entries to the competition close on Friday
20 June. All details are at www.wineshow.co.nz

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